Ask Recruiters Who RecruitTruck Drivers These Questions

Trucking companies frequently utilize recruiters
to
recruit new and
experienced truck drivers to drive for them.

We
would like
to believe that they are all honest and provide drivers with all of the
information they need to make an informed decision about hiring on with
a company. However, that's not always the case.

Whether
the recruiters are recruiting at truck
driver training schools
or from elsewhere in the trucking industry, if they are working for a
trucking
company, it is their job to find drivers to
drive
trucks. Unfortunately, some of them paint rosy pictures
of
their trucking companies, meaning that they describe them better than
they really are.

When it comes to recruiters, we provide on this page:

our experience in dealing with
them,

info on those who hire new and
experienced truck
drivers; and

a long list of questions --
borne out of our
experience -- that you might ask before you hire on with any trucking
company regarding the company, the equipment, the freight, operations,
drivers, communication, benefits and accidents.

Not only does every trucking company have strengths and
weaknesses, but
it specializes in something, be it the type of
freight they haul, the traffic lanes they use, the strength of their
customer base, etc.

Many
trucking companies now have websites that reveal the answers to some of
the questions we ask on this page. But to get a better picture of them,
you should consider getting answers to as many of these "questions to
ask recruiters" as you can.

One
indicator of the strength of a trucking company is
its driver turnover rate. If a trucking
company is
attractive to truck
drivers, they will want to stay. If a trucking company treats drivers
like raw meat, they will leave. As one recruiter at one of the trucking
companies for which Mike has worked once said, "If things are all
'peaches and cream' at
your company, then
why does it have X% (higher than 100%) turnover?"

Truck drivers, too, have their preferences. Some drivers
prefer working
for a larger trucking company with diversified freight; others may
prefer working for a smaller trucking company with specialized freight.
A strong "at-home" policy may be very important to some drivers; others
may prefer to be on the road for months at a time. Take a moment to
realistically describe your ideal set-up.

Recruiters: Our First Experience

Our first experience in dealing with any trucking
company recruiter
began when we attended a "hiring orientation" hosted by J.B. Hunt in
Columbia, SC. When we expressed an interest in driving, we were
referred to the recruiter for the truck
driver training
school
(not the trucking company). When we wanted to learn more, he desired to
make an appointment so that we could talk with him in his office at a
later date.

We followed through with meeting the driving school
recruiter. At that
point, we were thinking that only Mike would drive, not Vicki. When the
recruiter asked Mike, "Is she [meaning Vicki]
going
to drive, too?" we were dumbfounded. Mike asked him if he could picture
Vicki behind the wheel of a big rig. Without hesitation, the recruiter
said, "If her feet can touch the pedals, yes, sir, I can!"

After leaving the recruiter's office, we were compelled
to pray and
make out a list of pros and cons about whether or not Vicki should
drive with Mike. It sure seemed sensible for a wife who planned to
travel with her husband on the road to know how to operate the truck as
well. And if we teamed, we could make much
more
money, much more quickly! We felt the Lord leading both of us to drive
professionally and get training at the same time.

To our credit, we did look around at other truck driver
training
schools, although we didn't know as much about what to look for then as
we do now. We ended up at the school that the recruiter was recruiting
for.

Recruiters: Hiring New Truck Drivers for
Trucking
Companies

Well
into our time at truck driver training school, we
began hearing
the "pitches" of various trucking company recruiters. At least one of
them was, well, crude. He cracked off-color jokes, which -- while he
got laughs from the majority of our class -- cast a very UNprofessional
light on his motor carrier in our eyes.
Evidently,
he realized his blunder when he looked out into the audience and saw us
with our arms folded across our chests and un-amused looks on our
faces. (Just because we were going to become professional truck drivers
does not mean that we have low moral standards!)

Contrast the jokester with the Sergeant Major named "Earl," who came in
dressed to the nines in extremely professional attire. In fact, he was
different from all the other recruiters who traipsed through the school
that fall.

Earl spoke authoritatively and convincingly about his
trucking company.
We speculate that based on his appearance and mannerism alone, this
trucking company recruiter was extremely successful in his work. The
only thing we ever thought negatively about him was that he talked
about fax machines being put in his company's trucks and we never saw
any evidence to that effect once we started working for his company.

Recruiters: Hiring Experienced Truck
Drivers
for
Trucking Companies

Mike has talked with a number of other recruiters
through the years.
Much of the information that was a mystery to truck drivers in the
1990s is now openly available on trucking companies' websites. Drivers
can cut through the recruiters' lines to get some solid facts.

Here's how not to fall for recruiters' well-rehearsed lines or the
glamour of ads in the trucking magazines: Ask questions
and
get answers. Yes, the list of questions below may seem
"over
the top" in length and detail; but if you ask the ones that are most
important to you -- and get answers -- you will have a clear
understanding of the trucking company's strengths and weaknesses and
whether or not that company is a good fit for you as a professional
driver. Feel free to use any or all of these questions the next time
you're thinking of working for a new or different trucking company.

We're going to break these questions to ask trucking
recruiters into the following categories on linked pages:

about "the company";

about "driver qualifications";

about "the equipment";

about "freight", "freight
lanes" and "hiring area";

about "opertions"';

about "the drivers";

about "communication"'

about "dispatches";

about "the benefits";

about "accidents."

Questions to Ask Recruiters About "The
Company"

Company
background and
management

When was the company
founded?

By whom was the company
founded?

Is the company privately or
publicly held? (If
publicly held, what is its stock symbol?)

Was the founder of the
company ever a professional
driver?

How long was the founder of
the company a
professional driver before establishing his own trucking company?

Do all members of the
company's management know how
to drive trucks?

Do all members of the
company's management take at
least one trip per year, either as a driver or with a driver, to stay
"in touch" with what drivers face on the road?

How many levels of
management
(President, Vice
Presidents, etc.) does the company have?

How many total employees
does
the company have?

How many fleet/driver
managers does the company
have and do they have professional driving experience?

How many dispatchers or
planners does the company
have and do they have professional driving experience?

If the company claims to
have
an "open door
policy," how does it define the term?

Is management open to
receiving information about
shippers or consignees provided by drivers?

Company Customer
Base
and Goals for Expansion

How many of the following
does the company have?

Customers overall;

Customers in the
Fortune
500; and

Customers with high
volume
(shipping, say, 2-3
loads per day or more)?

What are the company's
goals
for expansion in the
next 1-2 years, and how does management intend to accomplish them?

What percentage of growth
does the company want in
the next 5 years?

What does the company need
to
keep up with its
customer base?

Does the company have -- or
is it seeking -- ISO
certification?

Company Financial
Status and Stability

What is the company's
financial status?

How financially solvent is
the company?

When was the last time the
company conducted an
efficiency study?

What were the company's
profits during the last
fiscal year?

What percentage of the
company's profits were
reinvested into the company during the last fiscal year?

Did the company share any
of
its profits with its
drivers during the last fiscal year?

When was the last time the
company's financial records were audited and may I have either a
digital or hard copy of the report?

Questions to Ask Recruiters About "Driver
Qualifications"

How many years of truck driving
experience do drivers need to have before hiring on with your company?

Which endorsements must new
hires have to have, such as tanker, hazardous materials or other?

What extra credentials must a
driver have in order to work for your company, such as a certificate
from a state's Department of Motor Vehicles to haul hazardous
materials, a TWIC card or passport to drive between the USA and Canada?

Must the driver have any other
skills, such as knowing how to operate a forklift for loading and/or
unloading of freight?

Questions to Ask Recruiters About "The
Equipment"

If I hire on with your company
as a professional
driver and successfully complete orientation, will I be put in a truck
immediately? (In other words, does the company have enough trucks for
all of the drivers it hires?)

If I will not be put in a truck
immediately after successfully completing orientation, what is the
company prepared to do (pay or otherwise)?

Is the company committed to:

Regular preventive
maintenance? (If so, how is this
tracked? By computer?)

What percentage of freight
hauled is considered "truckload" and "less-than-truckload" (LTL)?

What percentage of freight is
considered hazardous material?

What freight lanes (and which
interstates) does the
company use most?

In what states do the company's
drivers drive most?

What is the company's hiring
area?

Does the company have any
dedicated routes? If so,
from and to where, and which drivers have the opportunity to get these
routes?

What is the average length of
time between delivery
of one load and dispatch/assignment of the next?

Are drivers forced to take
loads into Canada, New
York City, or other high-risk areas?

Questions to Ask Recruiters About
"Operations"

By what means is percentage of
idling of a driver's
truck calculated?

If in order to stay comfortable
(staying warm in the
winter or cool in the summer), a driver has a higher percentage of
idling than desired by the company, will that "over-idling" be counted
in any way against the driver? If so, in what way will it be counted
against the driver (example: such as against a fuel bonus)?

Regarding the Driver's
Operations Manual:

Does it include all
policies
under which drivers
are bound?

Does it include all
procedures that drivers must
follow?

Does it include all of the
company's rules?

Is it subject to change at
the whim of management
without an update given to all company employees?

How often is it updated?

Does the company have an
ongoing training program (or
offer refresher courses) -– possibly by means of DVDs or videotapes -–
to keep drivers' skills sharp so as to reduce or eliminate accidents?

How long is the company's
driver orientation
(example: 2, 5, or 7 days) and of what does it consist?

Do prospective drivers get
transported, paid, fed and
housed completely at company expense during orientation?

Does the company have a
commitment to driver
retention, and if so, how does the company work to accomplish it?

At what point in time does a
driver start receiving waiting
time or detention time pay when he/she is delayed while
freight is being loaded or unloaded from the truck?

How much per hour do drivers
get for waiting time?

Questions to Ask Recruiters About "The
Drivers"

On average, how many miles per
week do drivers at this company get paid each week?

For my level of trucking
experience, how much will I get paid (by the mile or per hour)?

On which basis are
drivers paid:

Air
Miles,

Household Mover's Guide
(HMG) / Household Goods (HHG) Guide Miles,

Practical Miles,

Short Route Miles, or

Hub Miles?

How many of the following
designations of drivers
does the company have:

Solos;

Teams;

Company drivers; and

Owner operators or
independent contractors?

Will I need to own my own truck
or have my own authority?

How long has the average driver
been with the company?

How many drivers or trucks are
assigned to a specific
fleet/driver manager?

Over what is a fleet/driver
manager responsible?
(Examples: fuel stops, routing, extra pay, scheduling time off.)

Which better describes the
fleet/driver manager's
job: to help the driver or keep him/her "in line"?

With whom do drivers
communicate most and how?

How many years of recent
verifiable OTR driving
experience must a driver have before he can hire on with the company
and go out in a truck alone without having a trainer with him/her?

What is the company's turnover
rate of drivers? (If
it is high, ask why it is high.)

Does the company have regular
meetings with all of
its drivers? (Example: Are "safety meetings" mandatory, and if so, does
the company work to get its drivers to the terminal to attend them?)

Does the company have a "road
team" (which represents
the best of the trucking industry)?

Does the company take drivers'
suggestions seriously
and try to implement them where possible?

Does the company conduct a
regular survey (written or
virtual) to get feedback from its drivers? If so, what does the company
do with the survey feedback it receives?

Does the company "slip seat"
its drivers or assign
drivers to trucks?

After how much time off does a
driver "lose" his/her
assigned truck?

Questions to Ask Recruiters About
"Communication"

Does the company use satellite
communications to stay
in touch with its truck drivers?

Regarding satellite
communications (such as QualComm):

What percentage of the time
is the system used in
comparison to the phone (examples: 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, etc.)?

What types of information
is
the driver required to
enter into the system (examples: hours of service, loaded call,
payroll, weather, etc.)?

What types of information
can
the driver get from
the system (examples: directions to customers, routing, fuel solutions,
paycheck info, etc.)?

If a driver has a question,
is it best for him/her
to submit it over the system or call on the phone?

Major medical health
insurance coverage (and
through what company and who does it cover)?

Dental insurance coverage?

Supplemental medical
coverage?

Vision or eye care coverage?

Life insurance?

401K retirement?

Stock options? If so, at a
reduced rate for drivers?

Profit sharing? If so, on
what percentage is this
calculated?

Payroll deduction programs
to
enable services to be
provided on a pre-tax basis?

Orientation pay?

Family members being able
to
ride with the driver?

Pet program?

Company uniform program
(whether paid by the driver or the company)?

How long must a driver be
employed by the company
before benefits kick in? (or how long is the probationary period?)

Which of the following bonuses
are available and how are they calculated and paid out to drivers:

Fuel bonus? (Calculation
example: as a percentage
of the miles covered or on a cents-per-mile basis.)

Safety
bonus? (Calculation
example: as a percentage
of the miles covered or on a cents-per-mile basis.)

Performance bonus?
(Calculation examples: as a
percentage of the miles covered or on a cents-per-mile basis.)

Sign-on or recruitment
bonus?

Driver referral bonus?

Regarding vacation
policy:

How far in advance must a
driver request vacation?

On what basis is vacation
pay
paid out (examples:
flat rate or cents-per-mile average of last year or quarter)?

Regarding "at-home"
or "time off" policy:

How many days off does a
driver receive for every
day on the road?

How far in advance must a
driver request to get
home?

How many of the company's
terminals have any or all
of the following amenities for drivers: physical fitness equipment
rooms, sleeping rooms, regularly cleaned shower rooms with supplied
towel and washcloth, ice machines/makers, free washers and dryers, café
or grill for buying freshly prepared food, etc.?

Money saving tip:
There can be very expensive consequences if you do not ask recruiters
the right questions prior to getting truck driver training or hiring on
with a specific trucking company. For example, if a driver hires on
with a company thinking that it will get him home every weekend, but
the company gets him home only once every two or three months, the
driver may get angry, distracted from his/her job responsibilities, and
risk getting involved in an accident which could cost him/her the job
(and possibly driving career).

Also, take advantage of talking with other drivers
about their trucking companies, either in person or via message boards
on trucking forums. Ask what they like, what they don't like and how
they are treated. Be ready for a wide variety of responses. There may
be some things that you don't want to hear; but the important thing to
remember is: it is your driving career that is at
stake.